A new Finnish study, published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, finds that endurance exercises may change the composition of gut microbiota.

The researchers developed a 6-week program of bicycle training and enrolled 17 overweight women for this program. All women led a sedentary lifestyle before joining the study.

At the end of the program, the scientists noticed that the number of proteobacteria, gut bacteria that cause inflammation, decreased and the number of beneficial bacteria Akkermansia, linked to better metabolism, increased.

The corresponding author of the study Satu Pekkala, an Academy of Finland research fellow affiliated with the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, explains: “These changes are beneficial for cardiometabolic health, because VLDL transports lipids from the liver to peripheral tissues, converts into ‘bad’ LDL [low-density lipoprotein] cholesterol in the circulation, and thus has detrimental cardiovascular effects.”

A new German study, published in the journal Cell Reports, suggests that parents may boost the intelligence of their offspring by exercising.

The research, using a mice model, showed that active mice are more likely to have offspring with the higher ability to learn compared to mice whose movement was restricted. German researchers identified that “microRNA” molecules which were known to promote this neuron connectivity in the brain, as well as in the sperm, in response to exercise.

Study author Professor André Fischer from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease says: “Presumably, [miRNA212 and miRNA132] modify brain development in a very subtle manner improving the connection of neurons. This results in a cognitive advantage for the offspring.”

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A new research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests that a new exercise regimen, including aerobic and resistance training, can boost your brain health if you are over 50.

For the study, a team of researchers reviewed 39 studies looking at the impact of such aerobic exercises as walking, running, and swimming, on thinking, alertness, information processing, executing goals and memory skills.

Study lead author Joseph Northey, a doctoral candidate and teaching fellow at the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise in Australia, explains: “When we combined the available data from [39 previous] studies, we were able to show that undertaking physical exercise was able to improve the brain function of people aged 50 and over.”

For their research, the scientists enrolled 1,635 adults aged between 70 and 89. All of them had higher than average risk for becoming physically disabled over some period. When the research started, the participants could walk nearly one-quarter of a mile without help. After that, they all were divided into two groups, first of which was encourages to a daily exercising, and the other group attended weekly workshops.

In the end of the study, the researchers registered that people in the exercising group had a lower level of severe mobility problems than their counterparts from the other group.